4.0 Summary
Perceptions of the effects of alcohol use in Kingston
The intent of this survey was to find out how Kingston residents viewed alcohol use in their own community. An individual is influenced to drink, or not to drink alcohol by many factors. There is the simple enjoyment of the taste but there are also social and cultural factors, environmental influences and health impacts of drinking alcohol. This survey aimed to discover the strength of some of those influences in the local population. As KFL&A Public Health builds a strategy to discourage the misuse of alcohol, knowing information about the community will help them to gather public support12 and anticipate barriers.
Key findings from the survey sections that dealt with factors that influence drinking are presented below:
Reasons people drink alcohol
- Almost all respondents thought 'for entertainment' and 'to be sociable' were common or very common reasons for people to be motivated to drink alcohol.
- More 30 - 59 year olds than respondents 60 years and older thought 'to get drunk' was a common or very common reason to drink.
Factors that can contribute to community alcohol problems
- More respondents thought 'alcohol is easy to get' and 'there is excessive drinking' were common or very common situations than any other situations presented.
- 76% of women thought 'unemployment and low wages' was a common or very common situation compared to 63% of men.
- Men in the most financially deprived group were more likely to think 'unemployment and low wages' was common or very common. Men in the less deprived groups thought this situation was uncommon.
- Women in the less financially deprived group identified 'little to do' as a situational problem in Kingston.
Extent of alcohol-related issues in Kingston
- Both men and women thought 'verbal abuse', 'vehicle crashes', 'family abuse' and 'violence' were moderate or very common issues in Kingston.
- Between 16% and 23% of men and women respondents said they didn't know whether 'suicide', 'alcohol poisoning' and 'fetal alcohol spectrum disorder' were issues in Kingston. 18% of men also didn't know whether 'chronic disease' was an issue.
- 92% of older women (60+ years) felt 'vehicle crashes' were very much or a moderate issue compared to 76% of younger women (30-59 year olds).
- Men in the most deprived financial quintiles felt 'noise disturbances' were very much or a moderate issue.
Second-hand effects of alcohol use
- 24% and 23% of male and female respondents, respectively, had experienced problems in their neighbourhood as a result of someone else's drinking.
- Significantly more women (16%) than men (8%) reported experiencing family problems or marriage difficulties due to someone else's drinking.
Respondent support for community and policy actions to control alcohol use
Another objective of the survey was to determine the level of support for various community and policy actions. A two tier approach to policy implementation has been proposed in the literature.13 In this approach, the first tier of policies includes population-level strategies such as alcohol pricing and controlling the physical availability of alcohol. The second tier of policies is oriented to specific situations, behaviours, and contexts. Interventions at this level include programs that reduce drinking and driving, responsible beverage service training, and implementation of the low-risk drinking guidelines. The authors of the two-tier approach suggest that change is required in the first tier for the more common second-tier efforts to be effective.
Key findings from the survey are organized below using the two tier classification of policy initiatives.
Support for Tier 1 strategies - Population Level
- Both male and female respondents were supportive of the Ontario government establishing stricter advertising standards for alcohol, (61% and 82%, respectively).
- Significantly more women (63%) than men (40%) agreed that the price of alcohol should be based on its alcohol content.
- 77% of female respondents and 56% of male respondents do not support alcohol being available in corner stores.
- Only 46% of female respondents and 38% of males were aware of Kingston's Municipal Alcohol Policy.
Support for Tier 2 strategies - Targeted Interventions
- The two actions most supported by both male and female respondents were:
- Increase efforts by local licensed establishment to prevent drunken customers from being served.
- Bar training to reduce alcohol problems and violence should be required to obtain a liquor license.
- Younger male respondents were more likely than older males to disagree with eliminating cheap drink promotions in bars.
Limitations
The main limitation of this study is that the sample is not representative of the population it was drawn from, i.e. the City of Kingston. This is a common issue facing telephone surveys. The lack of representativeness is explained by non-response and non-coverage bias. Non-response bias occurs when the people who respond to the survey are different from those who do not respond on variables that are important to what is being studied. Numerous call backs and calling at different times throughout the day were methods used to decrease this bias. Still, the sample obtained was typical of telephone surveys, showing an over representation of older females.
There may also be non-coverage bias as this sample was drawn from people with land lines; people using only cell phone service were not part of the sampling frame. If people who have only cell phones are different in their opinions on alcohol use, then the findings will be biased. Therefore the findings cannot be generalized to the Kingston population.
Other survey methods (e.g. online) are being investigated to engage those segments of the population that are under-represented. If another survey is conducted in the future, the findings would augment these and would be included as an addendum.